Outdoor portrait shooting skills

On a sunny day, several friends gather in the wild, cross-country, cycling and hiking. ....................................................................................................................................................

Taking pictures in the direct sunlight overhead at noon means that your subject will have a thick shadow on his face.

Not only that, if you take pictures in the hot sun, you will know how difficult it is to take pictures that look very natural. In the photo, you squint and look as if you are in pain.

What else can we do?

Here are three simple techniques for taking portraits in the sun. If you don't want to drag an outdoor studio out to take pictures, they are the best for you.

1. Fill the flash

It seems unreasonable to use the flash in the hot sun, but the hot sun is actually one of the most suitable occasions to use the flash. A little light from the pop-up flash on the camera can drive away the heavy projections on the subject's face-these projections usually appear in the eyes.

Most cameras have flash compensation function, which allows users to adjust the output brightness of the flash, so don't be satisfied with the first photo you take-for example, adjust the compensation to the left or right, and take a few more photos until you get the most natural photo.

Another advantage of using the fill flash is that it can darken the background, make the photo more visually impactful and make the subject stand out in the background. In addition, the filling flash can also create eye light.

It is also useful to supplement the flash when taking backlight photos. Although the models' faces are not exposed to the sun, the backlight can give their hair and shoulders a side light, creating a very good effect.

Take pictures in the shadows.

A very simple way to eliminate the shadow on the model's face is to take pictures in the shadow.

The key is to find a place that is not too dark and receives uniform light, so avoid trees where sunlight will penetrate through cracks and produce spots.

If you want to take a special portrait, you can ask the other person to take an umbrella or other object, as long as it can produce a uniform shadow on your face.

Use a mirror

Maybe you don't always go out with a reflector (although I know some readers always have a foldable reflector in their photo bags), but that doesn't mean you can't find some simple substitutes. In short, the principle is to reflect light to the face of the subject to fill the shadow area.

Most white surfaces can be used as reflectors. If you put them at the right angle, you can fill the model with light.

Some photographers always wear white T-shirts for this reason, but having models stand by white walls or placing some white objects outside the scope of the picture has the same effect. I've also seen friends use aluminum foil for picnics to make reflectors (but this will produce dotted light).

Extra skills: creative.

Once you have taken some great portrait photos according to the above tips, why not do some experiments to see if you can add more creativity to the photos under bright light? You can add some great elements. For example, when shooting in the sun, we deliberately create lens halos.